BOARD DATE: 1 July 2014 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130020343 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states he was wounded on two separate incidents during the Vietnam conflict which required evacuation from the field to medical facilities. He contends he received an enemy gunshot wound to the right side of the neck and shrapnel to the right and left thighs from an enemy mortar. He also injured his right wrist requiring stitches and removal of shrapnel caused by an enemy rocket propelled grenade. 3. The applicant provides: * DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) * Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 21-526 (Veteran's Application for Compensation or Pension) * letter to the VA, dated 15 April 1971 * VA Form 21-6782 (Original Disability Compensation) * Veterans Benefits Award Certificate CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 30 June 1969. 3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 9 April 1970 to 5 March 1971. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show any Purple Hearts. 4. There is no evidence in his military records that indicates he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was treated for a combat-related wound. 5. He was honorably released from active duty on 6 March 1971. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. 6. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam Casualty Listing does not show the applicant's name as a combat casualty. 7. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. 8. He provides VA documentation indicating he requested and he was granted service-connected disability compensation for wounds to the right wrist and right thigh. The VA documentation does not indicate the circumstances surrounding his injuries. 9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart has been carefully considered. 2. His DA Form 20 contains no entries indicating he was wounded in action and there is no evidence in his military record that indicates he was treated for a combat-related wound. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing. The governing regulation requires that substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the injury was the result of hostile action and that the injury required treatment by medical personnel. In the absence of such evidence, the documentation provided, which does not indicate the circumstances surrounding his injuries, is insufficient evidence in which to base awarding the Purple Heart in this case 3. In view of the foregoing, there an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___X_____ __X______ __X__ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _________X______________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130020343 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130020343 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1